ANALYSIS AND DETERMINATION OF AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STATUS OF PUDUCHERRY

The present investigation is carried out to analyse the ambient air in Puducherry city and determine the air quality. This investigation represented the assessment of ambient air quality with respect to SPM, Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) and Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) for the year 2009 at six different sites. The Air Quality Index were calculated using IND-AQI procedure. It has been observed that the calculated Air Quality Index values for SO2 and NOx fall under ‘good’ and ‘good-to-moderate’ categories. The calculated Air Quality Index value of SPM for all areas is more than the prescribed standards given by the Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi, India. The ambient air quality survey was carried out at 6 monitoring stations with respect to SPM, SO2 and NOx. The pollutant concentrations were used to calculate the Air Quality Index. This study reports the analysis of the ambient air in Delhi city employing air quality index. Thus, it is observed that SPM is a critical pollutant at these three sites in Puducherry. This study reports the analysis of the ambient air in Puducherry city employing air quality index. The 24-hourly average concentrations of four major criteria pollutants viz. SPM, SO2, NOX and CO for the year 2009 at six different locations in Puducherry city have been considered for this analysis. The overall Air Quality Index was found to fall under the category ‘poor’ owing to SPM. Thus, it is observed that SPM is a critical pollutant at these three sites in Puducherry.